From the time George W. Bush pushed for war based on false assertions of WMDs and a non-existent connection to the events of 9/11 through the withdrawal of most troops in 2011 and the subsequent warfare against the Islamic State starting in 2014, the country of Iraq has continued to suffer. The problems have included the economy, health care and other basic needs such as electricity.

In early 2020, the Iraqi Parliament voted to demand the US leave their country following President Trump's ordered assassination of Iranian General Soleimani on Iraqi soil. While it was only an advisory vote, it was a very strong message.

At the end of 2021, President Biden failed to keep the US pledge to take all troops out of Iraq, instead re-designating the remaining 2500 forces as "advisors." That term is a loaded word used to describe the early troops in Viet Nam.

The Iraqis have not been free from US interference by war, sanctions and other means since August of 1990, shortly after the invasion of Kuwait. In late 2021, Iraq finally paid off the last of its reparations for that invasion despite the fact that Iraq's infrastructure and economy were devastated by the 1991 "Gulf War," the 2003 invasion and other American-led actions. The US must end its attempts to undermine Iraq's sovereignty once and for all.

If the Russians' attack on Ukrainian civilian targets is prosecuted as a war crime, there are many Americans who also need to be brought up on charges for what the US did to Iraq.

For more information, or if your group would like to cosponsor or endorse this event, contact Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group at 503-236-3065 or iraq@pjw.info.

*1- Even those in Iraq have drawn this connection:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/27/as-russia-invades-ukraine-iraqis-remember-painful-war-memories

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